Archive for murder

Lauren Mayer is a singer/songwriter/pianist who writes comedy songs about everything from Supreme Court decisions to the Kardashians. She proudly supports leftist causes including equal pay, reproductive choice, fair minimum wage, addressing climate change, and marriage equality.
Note: Lauren's CD is now available!! Hear clips or purchase CD/downloads at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/laurenmayer8. It is also on iTunes and will soon be on Amazon!

"I cannot turn a switch and say, "YOU are not human like the rest of us, and we can kill you."

"The human being who did that outrageous act is more than that one act in their life... It's a journey to get there."

"Lookin' at bodies... the victim's here, the guy on the gurney here, where are we? What have we accomplished?"

I have never supported the use of the government using murder, aka the death penalty, as punishment for a crime, no matter how heinous the act. It's more costly, it doesn't deter killers from killing, innocent lives (most often poor and non-white lives) are mistakenly snuffed out, and it puts the "good guys" in the same position as the bad guys by putting a living, breathing human being to death (even the scummiest, sickest, most vile beings) when there are other options available.

More violence is not the answer. Inflicting more pain is not the answer.

Jonah Goldberg admits that whenever perpetrators of especially heinous crimes, such as Oklahoma's Clayton Lockett, are executed, they are "entitled to a relatively painless and humane execution under the law." ("Clayton Lockett: A just execution, regardless," Opinion, May 6).

He also acknowledges that "deterrence may have some validity, but it alone cannot justify the death penalty. It is wrong to kill a man just to send a message to others."

He even says that "innocent people have been sent to death row. Even one such circumstance is outrageous and unacceptable."

Although he explains why he's not persuaded by some arguments against the death penalty and states that he is a death penalty supporter, it is remarkable that he fails to express even a single rationale for that support. If it's revenge, I think he should have the courage to admit it and then present a justification for his belief.

Don Payne

Santa Ana

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In his column on the botched Oklahoma execution, Goldberg goes over the arguments for and against the death penalty. Unfortunately, he did not include what I consider the most compelling argument against its use.

The use of the death penalty by government legitimizes violence as a solution to problems. This endorsement of violence sets a tone in society that is counterproductive and damaging.

Murder is a problem for society. That we attempt to solve the murder problem by killing people reflects the same simplistic logic used by so many murderers.

Stephanie Neiman presented a problem to Lockett: She refused to say she wouldn't report Lockett to the police. He tried to solve his problem by killing Neiman.

Solving problems by killing didn't work for Lockett, and it has not worked for society.

John La Grange

Solana Beach

Here's another interview with Sister Helen Prejean that is a must-see. She discusses lack of transparency and also how we "imitate the worst behavior" by "killing our criminals in order to be safe."

If you can't beat abortion legislation, rape the women. That's a loose translation of the inflammatory remarks made by Maine state Rep. Lawrence Lockman (R-Amherst). Via Raw Story:

“If a woman has (the right to an abortion), why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman?” Lockman said. “At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t (in most cases) result in anyone’s death.”

"Rape doesn't (in most cases) result in anyone's death?" Whoa there, Mr. Representative. Are you kidding? Some things like psychological scarring and permanent physical damage result that can be far worse than death. And suicides by rape victims are statistically significant according to Suicide.org.

-Rape has long-term emotional consequences that can lead to suicide.
-It is quite common for rape victims to suffer from depression.
-And untreated depression is the number one cause for suicide.
-About 33% of rape victims have suicidal thoughts.
-About 13% of rape victims will attempt suicide.
-Suicide attempts may occur years after the rape.

Reality calling Rep. Lockman. Please come in. It's as if this Neanderthal is saying, if I can't stop you from getting an abortion, then you can't stop me from raping you. If you get pregnant, you have the legal way to get rid of the fetus. So tough noogies.

Rep. Lockman should be under a psychologist's care. He's not safe out on the streets and certainly not safe sitting in the state capital as a voting member of the Maine legislature. He's not just a one issue nutjob, anti-abortion. Here's a bit more about him:

In one of the quotes posted on the blog, Lockman falsely suggested HIV and AIDS could be spread by bed sheets and mosquitos, and he also said the progressive movement helped spread the virus by claiming “the practice of sodomy is a legitimate alternative lifestyle, rather than a perverted and depraved crime against humanity.”

“[Lockman is a] disturbed individual who holds some of the most abhorrent beliefs ever heard from a public official in Maine,” said Ben Grant, the state’s Democratic Party chairman in a statement Tuesday.

More and more these wackadoos are coming to light. And they aren't all made of the same whole cloth. But they seem to all have on thing in common -- they're Republicans. As we saw in Arizona with their recent smokescreen anti-gay law (vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer), the right wing, evangelical fraction is still out there, and still active.

Their old ideas just won't die. Perhaps like the old soldiers of Gen. MacArthur's day, over time they will just fade away.